Initiatives and Activities

LScientific Research and Publishing Initiative

Supervisor: Dr. Abdullah Ali Alqahtani 

Email:  aamqahtani@iau.edu.sa

This initiative includes research and scientific publication in the field of cybersecurity and oversees a range of sub-initiatives including scientific production, scholarships for graduate students, and lecture series and courses to enrich cybersecurity content

Scientific production

Chair and members of the initiative:

• Dr. Rachid Zagrouba : rmzagrouba@iau.edu.sa

One of the main objectives of the scientific chair is to promote scientific research in the field of cybersecurity and support publication in open access journals. The support includes covering the costs of publishing in journals according to the following classification:

• Category 1: Contains the first quarter "Q1" and is the highest 25% of scientific journals in this discipline according to the impact factor.
• Category 2: Contains Q2 and represents 25% of journals in the highest impact factor following Q1.

During the first six months of the chair's launch, the Chair received 23 funding requests and 7 research papers were published in Q1 and Q2- journals.

For all papers published and funded by the scientific chair, the affiliation should be as follows:
"SAUDI ARAMCO Cybersecurity Chair, College of Computer Science and Information Technology, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, P.O. Box 1982, Dammam 31441, Saudi Arabia".

Scholarships for graduate students

Chair and members of the initiative:

• Dr. Rami Mustafa rmmohammad@iau.edu.sa

In order to promote scientific research in the field of cybersecurity, the cybersecurity chair, in collaboration with the College of Computer Science and Information Technology, offers two scholarships to students enrolled in the cybersecurity path in the master's program in the Department of Computer Science. Each grant is a competitive grant covering 50% of tuition fees.
This initiative is expected to be an important engine in the production of high-level scientific research so that the results of these research are published in prestigious scientific journals by attracting distinguished graduate students in the field of Cybersecurity.

Lecture series and workshops in the field of Cybersecurity 

Chair and members of the initiative:

• Dr.  Nasro min-Allah     nabdullatief@iau.edu.sa

One of the main objectives of the chair is to enrich the knowledge content in the field of cybersecurity for interested specialists and non-specialists where a number of specialized lectures were organized and presented in the field by hosting and attracting speakers from senior specialists in the field and inviting those interested in the field from different sectors.
The chair also organizes annual training workshops for 3-5 days so that interested people from information security departments are invited to register from various government and private entities. In addition to holding training courses for public and private sector workers.

 Patents and editing books

Chair and members of the initiative:

• Dr.  Saqib Saeed      sbsaed@iau.edu.sa  

The Cybersecurity Chair intends to be a leading platform for creating and disseminating knowledge in cybersecurity. To improve the scientific vision of the Saudi Aramco Cybersecurity Chair, it intends to enhance research productivity by patenting, editing books, editing special issues in leading journals, and organizing special sessions at international conferences.

Studies and development initiative

Supervisor : Dr. Malak Aljabri
Email : msaljabri@iau.edu.sa

The initiative includes several sub-initiatives that are interested in cybersecurity, such as establishing a digital newsletter for the chair, enriching Arabic content in the field, equipping specialized laboratories, measuring the satisfaction of beneficiaries, and developing curricula in the field.

Digital Newsletter

Chair and members of the initiative:

• Dr. Maryam Ahmed : mtahmed@iau.edu.sa
• Ms. Maryam Aldossary: mmsaldossary@iau.edu.sa

The digital newsletter provides an effective electronic communication channel for cybersecurity experts and the public. The newsletter raises awareness about cyberattacks and how to stay safe in the cyber world. It also publishes current news about cybersecurity, the achievements of cybersecurity students at the College of Computer Science and Information Technology, and recent research publications for faculty and students.

Enriching Arabic cybersecurity content

Chair and members of the initiative:

• Dr. Gomathi Krishna    gKrishna@iau.edu.sa
• Ms. Reem Alassaf      raalassaf@iau.edu.sa

This initiative aims to enrich the Arabic content in the field of cybersecurity by supporting the translation of the most important books in the field for Arabic. Although Arabic is the fourth popular language in the world, scientific content in Arabic is very low. Therefore, this step is necessary to support Arabic sources for Arab readers. Interested translators can apply by sending the application to e-mail: (ccsit.achair@iau.edu.sa).

Equipping a Cybersecurity lab with the latest technology

Chair and members of the initiative:

• Dr. Fahd Alhaidari/ faalhaidari@iau.edu.sa
• Dr. Amal Alahmadi / aaalahmadi@iau.edu.sa

One of the most important initiatives is to build laboratories to support the outcomes of the cybersecurity program. This includes the construction of dedicated cybersecurity laboratories containing digital forensics and cybersecurity equipment based on standards derived from the most well-known national and international programs and centers.
Another important goal is to create a virtual laboratory where students, trainees, and researchers can conduct online experiments and training through programs designed and equipped to cover many aspects of cybersecurity including ethical hacking, security analysis, defense techniques, and reverse engineering

Website design and annual report

Chair and members of the initiative:

• Dr. Dina Alabbad : daalabbad@iau.edu.sa
• Mr.Yousof AlMunsour yzalmunsour@iau.edu.sa

In order to document all initiatives, activities, and scientific results of the chair, work is underway to design a website to facilitate users' access to all the chair's belongings and is updated periodically with all the latest developments.
All the activities, outputs, and events of the chair are documented in an annual report delivered to the financier to learn about the march of the scientific chair and its achievements during the year.

Measuring beneficiary satisfaction

Chair and members of the initiative:

• Dr. Sumayah Aljameel: saljameel@iau.edu.sa

• Dr. Nehad M. Ibrahim nmaIbrahim@iau.edu.sa

The Beneficiary Satisfaction Measurement Initiative supports improvements and development of the quality of all chaired initiatives from workshops, training courses, graduate grant programs, advisory committees, community services, and periodic competitions. The main objectives of this initiative include:
• Work to create and distribute questionnaires for the beneficiaries of the initiatives.
• Analyze the results and present them to the chair council.
• Identify strengths and weaknesses based on the results of the questionnaires for the purpose of improvement and quality.

Courses Development

Chair and members of the initiative:

• Dr. Amal Alahmadi: aaalahmadi@iau.edu.sa
• Dr. Malak Aljabri msaljabri@iau.edu.sa

This initiative aims to develop scientific curricula by establishing local and international cooperation for the purpose of preparing and teaching advanced courses in cybersecurity in cooperation with other areas such as artificial intelligence, including preparation, characterization of courses, educational materials, and tests.

Scientific Cooperation and Exchange of Experiences Initiative

Supervisors: Dr. Khalid Alissa , Dr. Abdullah Almuhaideb

Email: kaalissa@iau.edu.sa, amAlmuhaideb@iau.edu.sa

The initiative aims to provide specialized consultations by a number of local and international experts and to create channels of communication around the world with specialized research centers in the field. The initiative also focuses on serving the community through school visits to raise awareness of cybercrime, cybersecurity training, student competition, and benefit from the expertise of the advisory board.

Building channels of communication with local and global Cybersecurity researchers and research centers

Chair and members of the initiative:

• Dr. Sunday Olatunji : osunday@iau.edu.sa
• Dr. Mohammed Alqahtani : maqhtani@iau.edu.sa

The chair aims to create unique collaborative channels with carefully selected cybersecurity researchers and cybersecurity research centers globally in order to strengthen the cooperative alliance to effectively and comprehensively investigate the objectives of Saudi Aramco's cybersecurity chair. 

Community service and school visits

Chair and members of the initiative:

• Dr. May Aldossary: mialdossary@iau.edu.sa
• Dr. Samiha Ebrahimi                        sBRAHIMI@iau.edu.sa
• Ms. Ghadeer Alazman : gralazman@iau.edu.sa

Due to the widespread use of technology from smart devices and social networking sites, children, especially adolescents, are exposed to the dangers of illegal bullying, extortion, and penetration.
The content is prepared and reviewed by cybersecurity specialists at the college. Accordingly, the detailed objectives of the initiative are:

• Creating a qualified group of college and students to implement the project
• Communication with schools and coordination in line with the availability of participating members and students.
• Cover at least 20 schools in the Eastern Region in the school year

Training programs

Chair and members of the initiative:

•  Ms. Maryam Aldossary mmsaldossary@iau.edu.sa
• Ms. Ghadir al-Azman gralazman@iau.edu.sa

The scientific chair is interested in developing the skills of interested specialists and non-cyber security professionals by offering a range of diverse training programs and workshops to acquire diverse cybersecurity skills. A number of training programs are prepared and organized by chair operators or in cooperation with distinguished stakeholders and specialists in the field.

Support students in obtaining professional certificates

Chair and members of the initiative:

• M. Saad al-Harithi saalharthi@iau.edu.sa

This initiative aims to support and encourage students to obtain professional certificates in the field of cybersecurity by covering 50% of the test fees.

Student Competition

Chair and members of the initiative:

•  Ms. Malak Al-Fosail mkaalfosail@iau.edu.sa

In order to highlight the talented people in the kingdom and prove that the scientific chair of Saudi Aramco contributes to their creation and support, an annual competition is held to measure the performance of college students compared to students from other universities. In addition, training courses are conducted for students with the highest ranks in the competition.

Advisory board directives

Chair and members of the initiative:

• Dr. Naya Naji nmnagy@iau.edu.sa

The cybersecurity chair benefits from the guidance of the advisory board, which includes a group of individuals who feed the chair with unique knowledge and skills in cybersecurity and related areas, which complement the knowledge and skills of chair members to achieve the goals more effectively. The chair aims to form an advisory board to include members of a variety of experiences covering industry, academia, and government sectors where members review the annual report of the Saudi Aramco cybersecurity chair and provide advice, guidance, and constructive support.

Supporting the industrial sector

Chair and members of the initiative:

•  Dr. Abdulrahman Alharby aalharby@iau.edu.sa

This initiative aims to support the projects in the industrial sector and works to identify the relevant projects and encourage students of bachelors and masters to invest their research in a way that requires the development of models that support the industrial sector and produce distinct research from them and publish them in prestigious journals.